Quiz fun for a great cause

A refreshing change from slumping in front of the televison came last week when I joined an army of Fife Free Press Group staff in Edinburgh for a very worthy charity event.

The occasion was a vast, sprawling pub quiz, to raise funds and awareness for the Gordon’s Fightback campaign.

The venture was launched by Kirkcaldy man Gordon Aikman – deservedly topping our 40-strong selection of Fifers who made a difference in 2014 – after he was diagnosed with the incurable Motor Neurone Disease (MND) at the age of only 29.

Gordon himself addressed the 200-plus gathering in a very inspiring and positive way and, only the previous day, he had featured prominently on the news following confirmation that the number of specialist MND nurses in Scotland would be doubled from seven to 14 – something he had campaigned personally for First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to do. And she listened.

Over £6000 was raised on the night, with more given directly to MND Scotland by text pledge after a spontaneous ‘mass texting’.

So to the titanic tussle of general knowledge, which included two Kirk Wynd line-ups among the 40 or so teams and, with all pub quizzes, left one feeling smug about knowing obscure facts and frustrated at getting simple questions wrong.

Well, I never knew my colleagues’ competitive streak was so fierce. Both FFP squads finished around fourth or fifth, with one of them basking in the glory of beating the other (mine) by a single point.

But it was a night we were proud to support – to find out more, go to www.gordonsfightback.com or to donate just £5, text MND85 £5 to 70070.